Police Find Missouri 4-Year-Old Pretending To Be Asleep At Scene Of St. Louis Area Murder-Suicide

A four-year-old girl pretended to sleep while her father committed a double murder-suicide in the Missouri town of Bellefontaine Neighbors, just outside of St. Louis. 31-year-old Dornubari Dugbor shot and killed both his girlfriend, Katrina Banks, 31, and her son, Kevin Robinson, 15. A call was placed to 911, in which the person said police would find three dead people.

The responding officers found Dugbor on the couch with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Dugbor was found with a 9mm pistol in one hand, and a cell phone in the other. Officers believe that Dugbor made the 911 call before shooting himself. Police believed that Banks was shot first in the living room and that her son Kevin was shot after coming to investigate the sounds of gunfire. Kevin retreated to the hallway after being shot, where he collapsed and died. Upon searching the house, officers also found the four-year-old girl in her room, pretending to be asleep.

According to Bellefontaine Neighbors Police Chief Jeremy Ihler, the four-year-old girl heard the first shot shortly before midnight. When she entered the living room, she found her mother on the floor. Dugbor told the girl to return to her room, which she did. Afterward, she heard several more gunshots ring through the house.

According to pictures posted on Facebook, Banks and Dugbor were engaged. Banks had posted a picture of an engagement ring with the caption “I said yes!” She then posted a picture of her and Dugbor together four days later with the caption “To the future. Bigger. Better. Greater. 2018.” Police determined from their daughter’s age that Banks and Dugbor had been in a relationship for at least four years. However, custody arrangements were not clear.

Neighbors of the family said they would occasionally see the four-year-old girl playing outside, and that Katrina Banks and her son had lived in the house since 2014. They also told police that Dugbor would stay there occasionally, but did not appear to live there. Dugbor also had a residence in St. Louis. Police had never been called to the house for any other disturbances, and nobody involved in the shooting had any criminal records.

Dugbor’s family members told police that he had no previous record of mental health issues. They had also never heard of him having any problems with Banks during their relationship, and could not offer any indication as to why Dugbor would have killed Banks and her son. However, police have not ruled out mental illness as a factor in the killings. Police Chief Jeremy Ihler said he believed “there may be some underserved social services, underserved support from individuals that could have prevented this from happening.”

Katrice Noble, a friend of Katrina Banks, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Banks “was destined to do great things,” and that she was “an all-around good person.” The four-year-old girl was taken to the hospital before being turned over to relatives. “The great concern I have for the 4-year-old girl [is] this is something she is going to have to live with for a very long time, if not forever,” said Police Chief Ihler.